Manila: The Department of Agriculture (DA) is examining the dynamics of food costs and practical trade realities to identify where price adjustments occur and how costs accumulate along the supply chain. According to a news release Tuesday, a DA team conducted a market visit at the Divisoria market last Jan. 23 and spoke with retailers, resellers, wholesalers, and market facilitators to gather valuable market information.
DA Assistant Secretary Genevieve Velicaria-Guevarra stressed how crucial monitoring is to identifying drivers of price adjustments and considerations for policy discussions. "Our engagement with the traders was very open and constructive," she said.
Guevarra said the Manila Hawkers Office explained the flow of trade in Divisoria, involving the unloading of produce in designated areas by some viajeros and hired laborers. Their contact buyers were reportedly situated in the said designated area, with transactions done and paid via digital cash transfers. Wholesalers and other commodity suppliers reportedly agree to payments through cheque or online transfers like GCash, PayMaya, and bank transfers.
Guevarra lauded the cooperation of retailers and wholesalers as the DA team gathered data. "They were not apprehensive at all and responded clearly to our questions," she said, citing that stricter market inspections don't necessarily "disrupt" trade. "We saw a willingness on their part to explain how trading really happens on the ground, which is important as we strengthen market monitoring and work toward more transparent and fair pricing."
According to the DA official, traders pointed out that price margins are influenced by actual operating cost, including roadside fees of PHP20 per square meter per day, a PHP1,275 annual hawkers' fee, and PHP50 per four-bag load for porterage costs. These terms will translate a 10-kilogram bag of amplaya, for instance, into about PHP1,000 price to retailers from the drop-off cost to wholesalers at PHP850.
Guevarra said the DA will reassess the value chain and strengthen the distribution model to protect product freshness while keeping prices affordable for consumers. "Understanding everyday trading dynamics is essential to curbing unreasonable price increases, protecting consumers, and ensuring that efficiency rather than speculation drives food prices in urban markets," she said.
